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Rockwell gains edge with new offerings [Gulf Industry]

(Gulf Industry Via Acquire Media NewsEdge) Rockwell Automation, based in Milwaukee, US, is wowing the business and industrial world with new products that primarily maximise efficiency and help customers reduce costs and be more competitive in the marketplace.

New products and technologies were discussed at Rockwell Automation Fair 2012 in Philadelphia where Rockwell's partner companies such as Cisco and Microsoft and its customers took part in an exhibition.

OEMs who want to offer the benefits of highly secure remote monitoring and troubleshooting to their customers without investing in expensive infrastructure can now turn to the new Virtual Support Engineer service from Rockwell Automation. This scalable, cost-effective, remote-monitoring solution provides proactive, IT-friendly access that allows OEMs to identify and resolve technical issues, proactively perform scheduled and preventive maintenance, and monitor their installed base of machinery to help optimise machine performance.

"In today's highly competitive global marketplace, the ability to offer competitively priced, yet highly secure remote support from anywhere in the world can be a unique differentiator for OEMs," said Jon Furniss, global product manager, Rockwell Automation. "The Virtual Support Engineer service offers an industry-leading combination of price and security. The remote access it provides allows OEMs to make sure their equipment is performing optimally at all times, regardless of location."
Rockwell Automation has announced the addition of EtherNet/IP to its medium-voltage Allen-Bradley Centerline motor control centers (MCCs). With the features of an integrated EtherNet/IP network, manufacturers now have access to production information throughout the enterprise and can take advantage of simplified device programming with Premier Integration.

The company has added new energy intelligence capabilities in software applications. The new tools – the FactoryTalk VantagePoint Energy bundle, FactoryTalk EnergyMetrix software, and Allen-Bradley IntelliCENTER Energy software – help plant and operations managers view resource consumption in relation to specific units, lines and machines, so they can make more informed energy decisions. Energy intelligence is an extension of the manufacturing intelligence capability of turning data into information for informed decision making, by leveraging power and energy equipment as data sources.

Arkema's chemical plant where Rockwell
Automation provided solutions
Manufacturing plants consume more than one-third of the global energy used annually. Unfortunately, many companies do not have information on the day-to-day energy consumption within their plants. "In order to identify opportunities for improvement, manufacturers need usage data from all areas of the facility to set baselines and better track variations for their entire operation – whether a single plant or a global production infrastructure. Energy-intelligence strategies leveraging FactoryTalk software enable companies to report and visualise their consumption in a way that can reduce the time and effort associated with regulatory compliance, cut operating costs and maximise profit," said a statement.

Manufacturers in a wide range of industries can more easily deploy, operate and maintain operations using the PlantPAx process automation system from Rockwell Automation. With its latest release, Rockwell Automation extends the scalability of its system, helps enable operators to focus on the process for improved productivity and safety, and delivers new tools for engineers to streamline project implementation.

The new release builds on the success of the PlantPAx system, which combines the plantwide control technologies and unmatched scalability of the Rockwell Automation Integrated Architecture system with all the core capabilities expected in a world-class DCS. With the PlantPAx system, users can integrate process control, power, information and safety into one infrastructure for reduced total cost of ownership.

"Our goal is to provide the most highly distributed, cost-effective and performance-driven system available on the market," said John Genovesi, vice president, Information Solutions and Process Business, Rockwell Automation.

Rockwell Automation's PlantPAx process automation system is now registered as a Foundation Fieldbus integrated host system. The PlantPAx system with EtherNet/IP and ControlNet network connectivity passed tests for "61b," the Fieldbus Foundation's most demanding host profile. Host profile 61b helps ensure interoperability among multivendor environments, making it easier for users to configure and maintain fieldbus devices.

Ash Grove: Rockwell Automation provided a
cement intelligent motor control solution
MIDRANGE EXPANDED
The expanded Midrange system portfolio of scalable Allen Bradley servo drives, variable frequency drives, industrial Ethernet switches, and unified engineering and design from Rockwell Automation will help machine and equipment builders reduce cost and complexity, and will provide more competitive, performance-driven offerings around the globe. End users, meanwhile, can standardise on one common technology, enabling more efficient collaboration, streamlined project maintenance, and faster system deployment.

"This year's expanded Midrange system offering helps equipment builders and end users standardise on a single platform and address critical business issues, such as global standards, scalable hardware, collaboration and safety," says John Pritchard, market development manager, Integrated Architecture, Rockwell Automation. "Forward-looking OEMs and end users can now leverage the same high-performance equipment as larger-scale systems, providing scalable integrated safety and motion options for a wider range of machines – all in the same controller, with a smaller price point."
Rockwell Software Studio 5000 unified engineering and design environment provides a framework for engineering collaboration. It sets the foundation for design tools that allow engineers to enter configuration and programming information only once, and then leverage it across their entire control system architecture from design to operation to maintenance.

"The Studio 5000 environment will bring the Rockwell Automation Integrated Architecture System to the next level, building on the superior usability of Rockwell Software RSLogix 5000 software, further improving the user experience, and the design and productivity of automation systems," said Kevin Zaba, vice president and general manager, Control and Visualisation Business, Rockwell Automation. "Optimally integrated hardware and software means users can define data once and easily use it across the Integrated Architecture system. The data and tag structures are natively recognised and automatically picked up by the other system components, improving development efficiency and reducing programming errors. A unified engineering and design environment also communicates and performs at higher speeds. For customers, the result is improved productivity, shorter design cycles and a faster time-to-market."
The debut of Studio 5000 software includes the Logix Designer application for programming and configuration of Allen-Bradley ControlLogix 5570 and CompactLogix 5370 programmable automation controllers. Later versions will provide applications for other engineering tasks, such as HMI development, library management for reusable components, information integration and more.

BOON TO MACHINE BUILDERS
Aiming to meet machine builders' needs for flexible micro programmable logic controllers (PLCs) that optimise stand-alone machine performance and cost, Rockwell Automation announced the new Allen-Bradley Micro850 and enhanced Micro830 PLCs. Both micro PLCs feature embedded motion capabilities for up to three axes of motion, allowing them to support a wide range of applications.

"To be profitable, machine builders around the globe demand world-class micro PLCs," said Co Gia Nguyen, vice president and general manager, Rockwell Automation Asia Pacific Business Centre. "But these controllers must meet machine builders' requirements for economical, just-enough control, while providing additional options and features that enable machine builders to differentiate their machines from the competition. The new Micro850 and enhanced Micro830 controllers balance those needs and help machine builders compete more profitably."
Built with the best of Rockwell Automation and Cisco technology, the highly scalable, compact-sized Allen-Bradley Stratix 5700 layer 2 managed industrial Ethernet switch meets a broad range of switching capabilities – from entry-level, machine-builder applications through converged or IT-ready integrated user solutions. Using the world's leading network infrastructure software – Cisco IOS – the Stratix 5700 switch delivers secure integration of business-critical services and support from the plant floor to the enterprise. The Stratix 5700 managed switch also simplifies the design and development of machine-level networks through configuration and monitoring tools. These tools help enable easy setup and diagnostics from within the Rockwell Automation Integrated Architecture system – bridging the gap between IT and the automation engineer.

The introduction of the Stratix 5700 switch adds to the broad family of Allen-Bradley switches.

The new Allen-Bradley CompactLogix 5370 programmable automation controllers (PACs) from Rockwell Automation bring machine builders a high-performance, right-sized integrated motion control solution for their machine applications. The 5370 series, which includes the 5370 L1, L2 and L3 controllers, features enhanced performance and motion capabilities while leveraging the common design and networking environment of the Rockwell Automation Integrated Architecture system. This gives users access to the extensive capabilities of the Logix Control Platform in a small, integrated and cost-effective package.

When used with the Allen-Bradley Kinetix 350 servo drive, the CompactLogix 5370 series provides both performance and cost competitiveness for machine builders requiring up to 16 axes of complex motion, all on one standard industrial network – EtherNet/IP. The EtherNet/IP connectivity offers up to 250 per cent more communication bandwidth than previous CompactLogix controllers, helping enable more network devices and higher performance control.